Bristlecone PineWe visited the White Mountains last week and had a good time. The kids weren't too imprssed by the bristlecones, but they had a good time for the most part.

The bristlecone pine only lives in scattered, arid mountain regions of six western states of America, but the oldest are found in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the White Mountains of California. There the pines exist in an exposed, windswept, harsh environment, free of competition from other plants and the ravages of insects and disease. The oldest bristlecones usually grow at elevations of 10,000 to 11,000 feet.

The bristlecone pines are the oldest single living organisms known (though some plants form clonal colonies which may be many times older). The oldest bristlecone pines are single plants that have been alive for a little less than 5,000 years. These very old trees are of great importance in dendrochronology or tree-ring dating.

From what I hear it would be quite a hike to see any of the bristlecones in DVNP at this time! The road up past the Charcoal Kilns is closed and so it would be necessary to hike pretty darn far to get anywhere near any bristlecones. Hopefully the lazy bureaucrats running things get off their butts and authorize people who actually work for a living to start fixing the roads!

If I'm not mistaken the only bristlecones located inside of DVNP are on Telescope Peak. At this time they are basically not accessible by the general public. Why the heck is it taking so long for the park to do something about restoring the roads?!!

The bristlecones in the White Mountains and in the Panamint Mountains must be enjoying some nice cool and crisp nights right around this time of year. I'd imagine that some are even partially covered with a nice refreshing blanket of snow right about now. Those mountain tops will remain pretty darn cold for a few more months! Winter is such a beautiful time of the year!

wildrose: You may have written that last post two years ago, but I could not disagree more. Winter is cold! It's damn cold and dreary too. Winter is a time when people with money head for the other side of the equator! Refreshing blanket of snow, my ass!!!

sandman: I hear you, but some of us actually do like a fresh blanket of snow. Of course, winter can go on for a little too long, but summer can sometimes have a way of doing that too. Not every day can be a perfect day, but perfect can get boring if it lasts too long for that matter also. The best policy is to try to enjoy whatever Mother Nature dishes out, but I suppose if you have enough money it's always possible to chase the sun wherever it may be shining!

twister: I bet the White Mountains are looking pretty white right about now! Pretty much anywhere where bristlecones grow is probably currently under a few feet of snow and the snow seems to be very abundant at this time!